


much ado about ADO

by Vitali (exocara)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - VRMMORPG, Gen, M/M, Mistaken Identity, Playboy Yuuri!!, Unknowing Playboy Yuuri..., Virtual Reality, Yuuri Seduces Everyone On Purpose Accidentally, long-haired viktor nikiforov at times, unreliable narrator yuuri katsuki is unaware of just how much everyone wants him
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-20 16:43:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9500567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exocara/pseuds/Vitali
Summary: Yuuri's first quest in the relatively popular VRMMORPG, Angels&Demons Online (ADO), was to seduce an NPC. He was trying to figure out just how to differentiate between NPCs and player characters, when he saw an angel with long silver hair and gorgeous blue eyes and thought to himself:That man is way too beautiful to be a player character.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> to those who know me: y'all knew this was coming

Yuuri punched the skip button in front of him for the umpteenth time. He wasn’t sure how long he had been here, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it had been more than an hour. If he wasn’t such a mixed bag of anxiety, he would most definitely submit a feedback review to the developers of the game because, _seriously_ , what kind of game tutorial only consisted of large blocks of endless text, with no pictures nor opportunities for players to try out and familiarize themselves with the controls?

-o-

Angels&Demons Online was but one of the many Virtual Reality Mass Multiplayer Role Playing Games (VRMMORPG) that had been released following the popularity of affordable VR headsets.

While Yuuri had been fond of RPGs when he was in elementary and junior high school, he still hadn’t gotten the chance to try his hand at any VRMMORPGs yet. However, he did have a VR headset that he mainly used to assess the practical practice programs given out by his course.

When Phichit had found out, he immediately bought Yuuri a copy of Angels&Demons Online, practically demanding Yuuri to join him in the game. Yuuri, of course, had relented due to his inability to say no to his roommate and best friend, and so here he was.

-o-

At the character creation screen Yuuri came face to face with a large mirror. It was ornate and seemed to made out of some sort of pearly-white material. It shimmered lightly as Yuuri moved his head and Yuuri had to admit that the developers did a good job with the aesthetics in the game.

A pop up appeared before him, asking him if he wanted to be an angel or a demon. Yuuri selected demon, remembering that Phichit had _strongly recommended_ the demon race to Yuuri. Phichit was a fire demon in the game and Yuuri planned to be a water demon in order to match with him.

Upon selecting the demon race, Yuuri saw that his reflection in the mirror now had a pair of nubby black horns and a long, black tail with an arrow at the end. The reflection was so life-like that Yuuri actually had to touch the top of his head and look behind him to confirm that, yes, he did not actually have horns and a tail. Yet.

A few more pop ups appeared, asking Yuuri if he wanted to change his appearance, be it by lengthening his hair, adding or losing weight, changing the color of his hair and eyes, etc. Yuuri decided to slick back his hair and remove his glasses. He left his weight as it was, having come to terms with the fact that he was totally okay with how he looked despite the irritating nagging voice society had put into his head about his body shape.

Once he was satisfied with his avatar, he walked through the mirror.

-o-

When the tutorial first started, Yuuri truly did try to read everything that was given to him. He read it in great detail, trying to cram every single piece of knowledge into his head.

He gave up after fifteen minutes.

As he absentmindedly punched the skip button a few more times, he placed a few bets in his head on how much longer the tutorial will take. A small fanfare noise startled him out of his thoughts and he snapped back to attention to read the pop up in front of him.

_“You have chosen the Love Element,”_   it read. _“You are now an Incubus.”_

Yuuri allowed himself a moment to think about resetting his game but, when he remembered how utterly long and dry the tutorial was, he ultimately decided to just live with it. It wasn’t like he was going to be an avid player of the game, anyway.

-o-

_“Your first quest is to seduce an NPC.”_

Yuuri did not know how to seduce people. He did not know how to seduce them in real life and he _certainly_ did not know how to seduce them in-game.

As it was, Yuuri was currently wandering the streets of the beginner town the game had dumped him in after the tutorial, waiting for Phichit to log in. He was also looking for NPCs to potentially seduce, figuring that seducing an NPC wasn’t as embarrassing as seducing an actual living, breathing, human being as NPCs were not real and could not confront him outside of the game.

Yuuri walked into the town’s square and a person standing under a tree caught his eye. Long silver hair cascaded down the person’s shoulders, some of it falling over half of his face in a manner that could only be described as stylish. A crown of blue roses, entirely made of ice, sat on his head, glinting in the sunlight. Behind him were a pair of intricate and somewhat translucent wings, seemingly made out of pure ice. One look at him and Yuuri’s breath was stolen from his very lungs.

This man was _way_ too beautiful to be a player character.

Mustering up his courage, and somewhat bolstered by the fact that he was just going to be talking to an NPC and not a real person, he walked up to the angel and gave him his best smile.

“Hello,” Yuuri said. The angel looked at Yuuri curiously and Yuuri almost could not breathe once again. The angel’s eyes were a beautiful, light shade of blue that glowed slightly in the shade of the tree. How could the developers make someone so perfect?

“I really like your eyes,” Yuuri ended up blurting out. The very eyes he had just complimented widened slightly and an amused smile settled on the angel’s perfect, _perfect_ lips.

“Thank you,” the angel replied. Yuuri panicked slightly, despite knowing that the angel was just an NPC and wouldn’t judge him, in fear that he might have weirded him out.

Yuuri was about to take a step away, giving up on the whole Seducing An NPC quest, when music started playing in the square. Yuuri looked around and sees a small band of angels with instruments, probably trying to increase their Performance skill and earn a little bit of gold.

He looked at the silver-haired angel and thought: _fuck it_.

Yuuri extended his hand and the angel looked at it curiously. “Would you like to dance with me?” Yuuri asked. The angel hesitated for a moment and then placed his hand in Yuuri’s.

“It would be an honor,” he said.

-o-

The last strains of melody faded away as Yuuri dipped the angel, one hand supporting his leg and the other hand cupping his cheek. The both of them were flushed, panting heavily, and had wide smiles on their faces. Yuuri hadn’t expected to have so much fun but he certainly wasn’t complaining. He leaned forward and the angel’s eyes fluttered shut.

“Have I seduced you?” Yuuri whispered in his ear. Yuuri then pulled back to that the both of them were firmly on their feet, still facing one another. The angel was staring at him with wide eyes. When Yuuri’s words finally registered in his head -- which didn’t take long, much to Yuuri’s anxious relief -- the angel’s eyes immediately flickered down to Yuuri’s lips.

“Well,” the angel said in a low, breathy voice. “You certainly have succeeded in sweeping me off my feet.”

“Oh, cool.” Yuuri immediately stepped away to take out his quest book. Unfortunately, his quest still wasn’t completed. He had failed in seducing the angel.  

To be honest, he wasn’t really surprised at that.

“What’s your name?” The sudden question from the angel startled Yuuri.

“Um, Yuuri? KatsudonYuuri.”

“I see! I’m WinnerWinnerson--” _okay_ “--but please call me Viktor.”

Yuuri didn’t understand why an NPC would have two names but he supposed it was to make the immersion better. The developers probably did not want people to easily distinguish player characters from NPCs and they really did do a good job. If Yuuri didn’t know better, he would have totally believed that the angel -- Viktor, he supposed -- was another player.

“It was nice to meet you,” Yuuri said to him, not too sure what else he can say. Viktor was looking at him expectantly, as if he was waiting for something. Yuuri did not know what he was waiting for. A long moment passed and apprehension started to crawl onto Viktor’s face.

“Aren’t you going to accept my friend request?” Viktor asked. Yuuri stared at him blankly. Friend request? NPCs could send friend requests? Yuuri thought back to the Pokegear function in Pokemon Gold and Silver. Perhaps it was something like that; registering to a friend list in order to give a player important information.

However, there was still one question that remained.

“How do I accept friend requests?”

-o-

A while later, after Viktor had taught Yuuri about how to accept and send friend requests and the basics of how to work the messaging and call system, Yuuri abruptly remembered that he was supposed to meet Phichit at the entrance of the town.  

“Sorry, I have to go meet someone now,” Yuuri said to Viktor. Viktor pouted.

“Fine,” he said. “But you have to message me later, okay?” He paused for a moment, features softening and eyes glittering. “I had a great time with you,” he said in a softer voice. “I hope we can dance together again.”

Yuuri blushed under the absolutely fond look Viktor was giving him. While the seduction had failed, it seemed that Yuuri had gained a friend. A friend that was entirely code and programming, but a friend nonetheless.

-o-

Five minutes passed and there was still no sign of Phichit. After the regular Anxiety Thought Fest -- full of thoughts such as: What if Phichit actually asked me to meet him another time? Another day? What if something happened to Phichit and that’s why he’s late? What if he meant a whole other _game?!_ \-- Yuuri shoved a hand into his inventory in a desperate bid to take his mind of matters. He ended up with his quest book in his hand, his first task as an Incubus glaringly incomplete.

He looked up from the book and saw another angel, this time with two-toned red and yellow hair. A halo of gold shone around his head and a pair of glowing wings, almost as if they were made out of pure light, extended from his back. Yuuri looked down at his book and then back up at the angel.

_Okay,_ Yuuri thought to himself. _I can do this._

-o-

“Yuuri? Is that you?”

“Oh, Phichit!” Yuuri turned back to the angel he had been talking with -- Minami was his name -- and gave him a rueful smile. “Sorry, it appears that I have to take my leave.” Yuuri started to pull away but Minami quickly held onto Yuuri’s arm.

“W-wait!” Minami all but shouted. “Will I… Will I see you again?”

“I don’t see why not.” Yuuri probably will be spending a considerable amount of time in the beginning village, after all. “I’ll be here for quite a while.”

“Okay!” Minami’s eyes were glittering and it was making Yuuri feel a little apprehensive. “Please, wait for me!”

“I’ll… try?” Yuuri could only answer. He had no idea what Minami was talking about.

“Yuuri!” Phichit yelled again.

“Alright then, I’ll, see you around.” Yuuri turned towards Phichit and jogged towards him.

In-game Phichit looked almost identical to real life Phichit, except that in-game Phichit had large, coal-black ram-like horns on his head with molten lava glowing through the cracks, and a brown tail that was literally on fire at the end.

“Making new friends already?” Phichit teased, gesturing towards Minami. Yuuri glanced back to see Minami turn bright red and give a very enthusiastic wave. Yuuri waved back.

“Yeah, kinda.” Yuuri wasn’t really sure if Phichit was going to count NPCs as friends but then again, why not? “What are we going to do now?”

“Well, first we meet the rest of my party and then…” Phichit looked at the tiny, nubby horns on Yuuri’s head. “You need to level up a lot more before you can get experience from the monsters we kill. Our level gap is too large.”

“How would you go about knowing another person’s level, then?” Yuuri asked curiously.

“For demon characters, it’s the size of their horns,” Phichit explained. “For angel characters, it’s how pretty their wings are. Didn’t you read this in the tutorial?”

Yuuri’s face turned carefully blank. “Ah,” he said.

“You skipped through the tutorial didn’t you?”

“...yes.”

“Don’t worry,” Phichit winked. “I did that too. You’ll figure out the interface through practical experience soon enough.”

Yuuri relaxed a bit at Phichit’s teasing. “I see, that’s good to hear.”

“Alright then, it’s time to meet the party!” And Yuuri unrelaxed. “They’ll love you, Yuuri! I fact, they already do!”

Yuuri highly doubted that, but he allowed Phichit to drag him along anyway.

-o-

The other two members of Phichit’s party turned out to be two angels called Leo and Guang Hong. Leo was a sylph, an angel of the air, and he had a pair of large, strong-looking wings similar to that of an eagle and a thin, wispy cloud floating above his head. Guang Hong, on the other hand, was an angel of the earth, called a dryad. His wings were made out of lush green leaves with daisies growing all over it and a flower crown of small yellow flowers sat on his head.

“Have you done any quests yet?” Leo asked Yuuri after the ice had broken. Yuuri shook his head.

“I’m still trying to find out more about the user interface,” he said, making everyone laugh. It was a universally known truth that no one bothered with the tutorial.  

Upon remembering about quests, Yuuri takes out his quest book only to see that the Seduce An NPC quest still hasn’t been completed. He felt a little disappointed, knowing that he had failed in seducing Minami as well. Like before, Yuuri wasn’t surprised; he already knew that he was horrible in making friends with people, let alone seducing them.

“Are there any quests you would like help with?” Guang Hong asked Yuuri when he realised that Yuuri was looking at his quest book. Yuuri shook his head.

“Not really, no,” he replied. “I don’t think you can help me with this one.” He paused. “But, do you know any good places to train for newcomers? I do need to gain at least a few levels.”

“Oh, there’s an area with some slimes near here,” Guang Hong said. “They’re quite manageable but you have to be careful to make sure they don’t gang up on you. Do you want us to come along?”

Yuuri looked at them.

“Aren’t you guys within the fifty to sixty level range?” he asked. They nodded, not seeing the problem. Yuuri sighed. “No, it’s fine. I can handle a few beginner slimes on my own. I wouldn’t want to bore you.”

“If you’re sure…” Guang Hong looked a bit apprehensive. Yuuri doesn’t know why. Slimes were just slimes, right?

-o-

Slimes were not just slimes.

Yuuri stared up at the arched ceilings and stained glass window of the church in the beginner town. Each town, no matter how small, had a church as it was considered the resurrection point for characters that _died._

Those slimes were not _just slimes._

Sure, Guang Hong had warned Yuuri to be wary of the slimes ganging up on him but how was Yuuri supposed to anticipate the nightmare fuel of multiple slimes surrounding and engulfing him in their collective gelatinous bodies and slowly dissolving his health points away from him? Yuuri was going to have trouble going in sizeable bodies of water for _weeks._

He rolled out of the bed he was lying on and checked his stats. His health points had seemingly fully recovered after death but he had lost quite a lot of the experience points he had earned, putting him at level three instead of the level four he had been before _slimes._

He looked around the church and saw that there was a demon with large, vine-covered, black antelope horns and a dark green tail with a leaf tip aimlessly walking around the church. Perhaps they were another NPC?

The demon glanced up from their pacing to see Yuuri looking at them curiously. They gave Yuuri a wave and walked over to him.

“Hey! Feeling any better?” they asked.

“Uh, yeah, thanks,” Yuuri replied, feeling more sure that the demon was a church-stationed NPC.

“No problem! I come here often to heal people who have recently spawned. They get to wake up fully healed and I get the experience point from healing! It’s a pretty win-win deal,” the demon said.

“Experience points from healing?” A church-stationed NPC that taught newbies about healing?

“Yeah!” The demon nodded. “You can get experience points from killing monsters and you can get experience points from healing. You get more points for healing people from your party or guild but--” they shrugged “--I don’t work well with people.”

“I see.” Yuuri remembered Phichit complaining about his party’s lack of healer once, causing them to have to constantly spend a bulk of their money on both health and mana potions. “Where can I learn to be a healer?”

“Right here, actually,” the demon said, pointing to the large statues at the back of the church. There was a angel and a demon facing each other, joining hands. Before them was an open book on a bookstand. “You just have to read that book over there and you’ll be prompted about learning the basic heal skill. It’s free.”

Yuuri looked at the book warily, making the demon laugh. “Don’t worry, it’s, like, only one page,” the demon said. “It’s nothing like the tutorial.”

“Ah.” Yuuri relaxed and walked over to the book. There was a simple poem on the page about healing and putting others first and, after reading it, a screen popped up in front of him.

_“Would you like to learn the Heal skill?”_ it asked. Yuuri tapped yes. _“Congratulations!”_ the screen now wrote. _“You have successfully learnt the Heal skill!”_

Yuuri shyly looked back at the demon.

“What is it?” the demon asked. “Need any help?”

“Uh… Do you know how to access skills?”

-o-

“...and like this, you can map the skill onto your weapon or an accessory,” the demon explained, holding out their own weapon as an example. Their weapon was a simple sword and had some emerald gems embedded in the hilt. “Afterwards, you can either touch the stone or think about the skill you want to use in order to use them.”

“I see.” Yuuri took out his own weapon: a stick. The demon eyed it with a look of incredulity.

“Okay, wait.” The sword disappeared from the demon’s hand and was quickly replaced with plainer one, alone with a simple bracelet. There were two clear gems embedded in each item. “Take these and use them. It’s a damn crime to use such horrible weapons.”

“Oh, thank you.” _NPCs are really helpful in this game,_ Yuuri thought as he accepted and equipped the items. He immediately mapped the Heal skill onto the bracelet. There a few other skills he was capable of but most were passive and only one caught his eye.

_Seduce._

Was this what he had been doing wrong? Was he supposed to use a skill to seduce NPCs instead of roleplaying it out with them?

He mapped the skill onto the bracelet as well and surreptitiously cast it on the demon in front of him. A popup appeared.

_“This skill cannot be cast.”_

Apparently not. The skill was probably only for monsters.

“Something the matter?” the demon asked. Yuuri looked at them and _wondered._

“No, nothing’s the matter,” he said. “Is it okay if I stay here with you to practice healing as well? You’re wonderful company and I’d like to get to know you more.”

The demon seemed a little surprised. “Oh, um, sure,” they said, shifting slightly. “I don’t mind. My name’s Xeki, by the way.”

“I’m Yuuri.” Yuuri allowed himself to smile openly and brightly at Xeki, causing them to look away, a blush on their cheeks. A promising reaction so far. “I look forward to working with you.”

“S-same.”

-o-

Yuuri walked out of the church with one more levels, one more friend, and, unfortunately, no NPCs seduced. His quest book attested to that.

“Be sure to message me anytime you need help!” Xeki yelled, waving their hands at Yuuri. Yuuri waved back.

“Thank you!”

-o-

The in-game clock showed Yuuri that he had already been playing Angels&Demons Online for a few hours now and he decided that it was a good time to stop. Besides, Yuuri had been going around trying to seduce NPCs and they had either outright ignored him when he tried to start a conversation or only wanted to be his friend and was not seduced. Yuuri knew that he wasn’t exactly the most appealing person out there but this was very damaging to his self-esteem.

“Yuuri!” a voice called out just as he was about to log out. He turned to the source only to see it was Viktor.

“Oh, hello Viktor,” Yuuri said.

“Hey.” Viktor was smiling brightly. “I’m glad I caught you right before you left, then.” His eyes were drawn to the bracelet around Yuuri’s wrist. “Oh! A skill bracelet! I thought those were only available later in the game.”

“Really?” Yuuri looked at the bracelet curiously. “Someone gave this to me as a gift. They were very nice.”

“I, see.” Viktor was looking at the bracelet with a lot more intensity now. “Could you wait here for a while? Just a few minutes, I promise I won’t take long.”

“Sure?”

“Thanks.” Viktor gave him a smile and quickly dashed off. He returned a few moments later with a sapphire studded silver bracelet in his hands. He held it out to Yuuri and Yuuri took it, examining the bracelet. The sapphires on the bracelet reminded him of Viktor’s eyes.

“It’s really pretty,” Yuuri told Viktor. “Where did you get this?”

“I made it!” Viktor exclaimed. “I made it a long time ago but I didn’t really have a use for it but now you’re here, I thought that maybe you’d be able to put it to good use! Also, it has more gems so you can map more skills onto it.”

“Oh.” Yuuri blushed and looked down, fiddling with the bracelet. Viktor might be an NPC, but Yuuri couldn’t help but be embarrassed by the gift-giving. “Thank you.” He unequipped the bracelet Xeki had given him and replaced it with the one Viktor gave him. Viktor looked pleased at that.

“Will you be playing tomorrow?” Viktor asked. Yuuri thought for a moment and then shrugged.

“It depends on if I’m free,” he said.

“I see.” Viktor looked a little disappointed. “Well, if you do log in, just send me a message! I’d like to see you again.”

“I will.” Yuuri looked up at Viktor with a small but genuine smile on his face. Viktor gazed back into Yuuri’s eyes. He opened his mouth to say something again but Yuuri didn’t notice, already bringing up the game menu.

“See you,” Yuuri said to Viktor and immediately logged out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my computer is dead forever so it'll take a long time for the next chapter to be written. sorry about that. 
> 
> anyway, if you think that the outfit yuuri receives in this is the eros outfit, you are correct.

“You know, I’ve recently searched up a few things and I’ve found out that you can accompany us on high level dungeon crawling if you have enough equipment that makes up for your lack of stats,” Phichit told Yuuri as they sat in one of the cafes in their college campus, waiting for their drinks. The cafe had recently opened and Phichit wanted to bring Yuuri there in order to get a photo for his instagram. Yuuri, not one to turn down free coffee, went along easily.

“One caramel frappe for Phichit and one mochaccino for… Yuuri?”

Yuuri glanced at the counter and his brain immediately fried because the barista holding out his and Phichit’s drinks was, quite possibly, one the two most beautiful people Yuuri had ever seen in his entire life, with the other being the NPC Viktor. So much so that if Yuuri had to choose between Viktor and this man, he wouldn’t be able to do so.

If Yuuri could look at the barista in the face for more than three seconds, he would have noticed that Viktor and the barista looked almost identical, almost eerily so, but the barista was so beautiful that Yuuri could only look at him from his periphery vision in order to avoid being blinded so he never realised that fact.

“Yuuri?” Phichit was standing beside Yuuri. “Our drinks are done.”

“I can’t go take the drinks, Phichit!” Yuuri hissed, positioning himself _just so_ so that the barista wouldn’t be able to see his face.

“Why not?” Phichit asked and then took in Yuuri’s body language. Phichit gave the barista a dangerous look. “Is it the barista, Yuuri? Do you know him? Did he do something mean to you?”

“No!” Yuuri hurriedly cried out, quickly grabbing Phichit’s sleeve and preventing the bloody murder of the most beautiful man alive.

“No?”

“Mochaccino for Yuuri and caramel frappe for Phichit?” the barista yelled out again, looking over the entire cafe. Yuuri quickly ducked his head.

“No, it’s just that, it’s just that he’s too pretty!” Yuuri said under his breath. In an instant, Phichit’s expression changed from politely murderous to the horrible, horrible, fear-inducing look one would give a friend when they figured out their friend’s crush.

“Phichit, please,” Yuuri begged.

“Don’t worry!” Phichit said brightly and then all but _skipped_ towards the counter, leaving Yuuri more worried than ever.

-o-

_“Hey, I’m online,”_ Yuuri sent to Viktor out of courtesy before he proceeded to try and massacre all the beginner slimes in an attempt to work out his frustrations. A message popped up in front of him but, upon seeing that the sender was Phichit, he ignored it.

A few more messages popped up, distracting Yuuri and causing him to die at the goopy ‘hands’ of the slimes.

After respawning, he took a moment to just lie down on the bed and appreciate the aesthetics of the church ceiling. Then, he promptly opened up the messaging interfaced, disabled messages from people who were not on his friend list, and remove Phichit from his friend list.

He got out of the bed to check his level. Thankfully, while he lost a chunk of experience points from dying, he didn’t go down any levels.

Yuuri exited the church, about to go back to the slimes, when a new message popped up. This time, it was from Viktor.

_“Where are you?”_ the message said.

_“I’m at the church,”_ Yuuri sent back.

Mere moments later, Viktor was already standing in the street where the church was situated. Yuuri had to applaud him for his efficiency, but he supposes that was just child’s play for an NPC.

“Hey,” Yuuri greeted. It came out colder than Yuuri meant it to, making him wince. Viktor paused at Yuuri’s tone.

“Are you okay?” he asked carefully. Yuuri sighed.

“My friend embarrassed me in front of someone I had a crush on and I never want to see them ever again, so I’m hiding out in this game,” Yuuri said.

“The crush or the friend?”

“Both.”

“What if,” Viktor was looking at his feet, kicking at the ground. “What if this crush of yours played this game as well and knew you?”

Yuuri looked at him with wide, horrified eyes. “Don’t even joke about that!” he hissed. “That’s the worst thing to possibly happen! I’d quit the entire game if he were here!”

“O-oh.” Viktor looked a little shaken.

“Why’d you ask, anyway?”

“It’s nothing,” Viktor said very quickly and then changed the subject. “Anyway, are you free? There’s something I want to show you.”

“Sure.” Yuuri had set the time aside to go exploring the town and the immediate surroundings with Phichit but he didn’t really want to be with Phichit right now, so, “Lead the way.”

“Okay, do you know how to ice skate?” Viktor asked Yuuri, eyes wide and sparkling.

“Do I know how to what?”

-o-

Yuuri couldn’t help but gape at Viktor’s show of ability.

He was standing in front of a frozen lake. The lake hadn’t been frozen when Yuuri and Viktor first arrived, but Viktor easily turned the water into ice with just a touch to his bracelet.

Yuuri turned to Viktor, wanting to demand to know exactly how strong he was, when he saw Viktor holding out a pair of ice skates.

“They even have those over here?” Yuuri asked in wonder, taking the pair of skates from Viktor and equipping them. They were a perfect fit.

“Cool, isn’t it?” Viktor stepped onto the ice and extended his hand towards Yuuri. Yuuri smiled as he took it, stepping onto the ice as well with Viktor.

Viktor and Yuuri played around on the frozen lake, skating circles and trying to tag each other. By the time Yuuri tagged Viktor for the fifth time, he was panting heavily and had entirely forgotten his anger. That was, until Phichit showed up.

“Yuuri,” was all Phichit said before Yuuri had re-equipped his normal footwear and was marching off.

“I’ll see you later, Viktor,” Yuuri called out and then broke into a sprint. Considering Phichit had a higher level than Yuuri, and therefore a higher speed, it didn’t take long for Phichit to catch up with him.

“Yuuri, please,” Phichit begged. Yuuri turned his head.

“I don’t want to talk to you right now, Phichit,” he said and only stopped running because they were at the edge of a cliff.

“I just, I just want to apologize. I don’t care if you don’t--” Phichit paused for a moment. “Okay, I do are if you don’t forgive me and never talk to me again, but I won’t blame you for it. I just want to--” Phichit was walking towards Yuuri has he was talking, causing Yuuri to unconsciously  move backwards. Towards the edge of the cliff.

Yuuri’s foot did not meet with solid ground and he tilted backwards. His heart lurched in his chest. Phichit quickly reached out to grab Yuuri’s hand before he went over the edge, a knee jerk reaction on Phichit’s part, but he was dragged down with Yuuri.

Their screams harmonized as they fell.

-o-

“I can’t believe we’re still alive,” Yuuri muttered. The both of them were lying on some sort of dry but soft straw-like material. They had landed there after their high fall, the soft material breaking their fall and saving them from certain death. Yuuri quickly healed himself up and then, after a moment of contemplation, healed Phichit was well.

“I can’t believe we fell in the first place,” Phichit said. “The last time I was here, there had been an invisible wall. Maybe it’s a bug?” He slowly sat up.

A pop up appeared before the both of them.

_“Warning!!! Chad (Secret Goose) is nearby!!!”_

Phichit paled.

“Who’s Chad?” Yuuri asked as he looked at Phichit furiously scramble to stand up.

“We’ve got to leave, we’ve got to go!” Phichit whispered harshly, tugging Yuuri to his feet. Yuuri allowed him to do so. “Hurry!”

“Is it because of Chad?” Yuuri looked around and saw that the ground around him was made out of the same straw-like material. There were large, smooth white boulders surrounding them.

“Let’s go, we have to find a way out,” Phichit said again. He pulled Yuuri along with him as he ran past the boulders. The ground started to shake. A large _“BUH-CAAAWK”_ pierced the air, turning Yuuri’s blood cold. He turned his head slightly to look behind him, and then upwards, and--

“Is that a giant _chicken?!”_

-o-

“Buh-cawk!!!”

The ground trembled with every step the giant chicken took, and positively _shook_ whenever the large beak impacted the ground.

“Buh-CAWK!”

Phichit pulled Yuuri out of the way as the beak buried itself in the ground where Yuuri once stood. Yuuri shrieked. The giant was too close!

“We’re almost out of the nest!” Phichit yelled, pointing to where the straw-like material of the ground curved up into a medium-sized wall. “Only a little more!”

The giant managed to free its beak once again and continued the chase.

“Buh-CAAAAAWWWK!!!!”

It happened in an instance. The giant’s beak glinted menacingly and Yuuri _knew_ he couldn’t run fast enough, couldn’t get away in time, couldn’t do anything but wait for death to take him.

And then, Phichit was pushing him out of the way.

Yuuri watched with wide eyes as the beak descended onto Phichit, tearing through him easily. Phichit’s eyes turned dull as his entire body turned into ash and dissolved into the ground. He had died in one hit. The giant chicken was strong enough to kill Phichit, who was at least thirty levels higher than him, _in one hit._

Yuuri dashed for the edge of the nest. He could feel the ground shake as the giant chicken freed its beak and ran after him. He quickened his pace. He was _almost there!_

-o-

Yuuri opened his eyes to see Phichit standing over him. They stared at each other for a moment before Yuuri could feel his lips unwittingly curling into a smile.

“Pfft,” Yuuri said. Phichit’s lip twitched as well.

“Buh-cawk,” Phichit said, very, very softly.

It was the straw that broke the camel’s back; Phichit and Yuuri immediately burst into laughter, holding their stomachs and curling up into balls with Yuuri on the bed and Phichit on the floor beside it.

“We got killed by a _giant chicken!”_  Phichit managed to say in between gasps of air.  

“What kind of name is _Chad?”_ Yuuri howled with laughter. He rolled on the bed and then fell off, bringing about a _new_ wave of laughter.

“Um,” someone spoke up. They were another player who had just respawned in the church, an angel with small black wings and no halo. “Are you… are you guys okay?”

After much difficulty, Yuuri finally got up to his feet. He was still giggling wildly, clutching his tummy with his hands. Suddenly, he grabbed the angel’s shoulder and pulled them close.

“A chicken! A giant chicken!” he said, shaking the angel slightly. “Chad! Chad the giant chicken!” Yuuri twirled the angel around the church in his giddy state, Phichit urging him on with his clapping.

When Yuuri finally released the angel, they seemed dazed with a flush high on their cheeks. Yuuri didn’t notice how the angel kept glancing at them as they left the church, too busy making clucking noises and laughing with Phichit.

Finally, the laughter died down. Phichit and Yuuri ended up in a corner of the church, leaning against each other as they came down from their high.

“Yuuri,” Phichit said softly.

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry.” He turned to face Yuuri, face seriously. “I should have known better than to put you in such a situation.” He bowed his head. “I won’t ever do it again.”

Yuuri looked at Phichit for a long time, making Phichit fidget under the weight of Yuuri’s scrutiny. Then, Yuuri smiled.

“I accept your apology, Phichit.” A beat of hesitation passed before Yuuri pulled Phichit into a hug. He felt Phichit’s body tense up for a moment and then relax, melting into Yuuri’s hug.

“Thank you Yuuri.”

“It’s alright Phichit.” Yuuri pulled back. “Next time, _ask_ and I’ll tell you if I want you to hit on hot guys for me.”

Phichit flashed Yuuri a sheepish grin.

“Will do.”

-o-

As Phichit and Yuuri made their way around town, they came across Viktor once again. This time, he wasn’t alone.

“Yuuri!” Viktor’s entire countenance lit up upon seeing them. He swiftly detached himself from the group he was with and made his way towards Phichit and Yuuri. When he took in how close Phichit and Yuuri were standing to each other, he paused for a moment. “Have you two made up?”

“Yeah,” Yuuri said with a small smile. “We’re alright now.”

Viktor beamed. “That’s great! I’m happy for you.”

“Who’s this?” A petite blonde haired demon stood beside Viktor with folded arms. He had a pair of impressive pale-white horns, similar to the curled ones of a goat, but did not have a tail.

“Yura!” Viktor looked surprised to see the demon despite having just talked to him mere moments ago. “Yura, this is Yuuri! I told you about him, right?”

“Oh.” The demon looked at Yuuri like he was something he just scraped off his shoe. “The name stealing sedu--” A hand was slammed over the demon’s mouth.

“What?” Yuuri asked. Name stealing what?

“Hahaha.” Viktor’s smile looked a bit strained. “Yura, you’re such a joker!” He turned to Yuuri. “Yuuri, this is Yuri, a demon from my party! Yura is just a nickname I have for him.”

“Oh.” The name stealing accusation made more sense now.

When Viktor’s eyes shifted to Phichit, Yuuri suddenly realised that he hadn’t introduced his friend yet.

“Oh yeah, Viktor! This is Phichit, my best friend. Phichit, this is Viktor!”

Phichit and Viktor were looking at each other, seemingly holding a silent conversation with only their eyes.

“We’ve… met,” Phichit said and, ah. Yeah, Viktor was an NPC in the beginner’s town, of course Phichit and Viktor would have known each other. And if Yuri was from Viktor’s party, did that mean that Yuri was an NPC as well?

“Oi.” Yuri was suddenly up in Yuuri’s face. “Viktor’s in _our_ party, not yours. And he would never be in yours, so stop hogging his time, you noob!”

Yuuri stared down at Yuri. Noob? Holy shit, when was the last time he had heard that word? Yuuri couldn’t help but feel incredibly amused. The AI behind Yuri must have been fashioned after a child, or a teenager at best.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Yuuri said noncommittally.

“Are you _patronizing_ me?!” Yuri was baring his teeth. They were a little sharp around the canines and Yuuri couldn’t help but think of him as a little kitten.

“Where to next, Phichit?” Yuuri asked instead of replying Yuri. He heard some snarls and choice words from Yuri but didn’t react.

“Well, there are the dungeons just outside of town,” Phichit began. He had told Yuuri about the different dungeons available in Angels&Demons Online and how they were each themed after the different races and elements: angels and demons, along with fire, water, wind, earth, light, dark, and love.

“Let’s go, then!” Yuuri was eager to explore the dungeons. Phichit had said that they were a good way of getting experience points and loot at the same time and Yuuri wanted to go to the dungeon with the love element.

“Yuuri.” Phichit looked at Yuuri in the eyes. “The dungeon mobs tailor themselves to the highest level party member. You will _die_ if we go in together.”

“Oh.” Yuuri had forgotten about that. Seeing Yuuri’s disappointed look, Phichit hummed in thought.

“Well, if we get you good gear and had more party members, we might be able to survive this,” Phichit said. His eyes flickered to Viktor. Yuuri followed his gaze and his entire countenance lit up.

“Viktor, do you want to go to a love dungeon with me?” Yuuri asked. Viktor choked. Phichit choked. Behind Viktor, an angel with two-toned blonde and brown hair snickered, nudging the demon beside him, who closed his eyes, an expression of suffering on his face.

“Dammit, I’ve already told you!” Yuri bristled. “You can’t steal Viktor away into your party!”

“It’s just for one day,” Phichit said. “And we’re only making an alliance between parties instead of creating a new one.” An alliance was a temporary joining of two parties that could be dissolved easily and without issue.

“It’s okay if you can’t,” Yuuri told Viktor. “But I’d like it if you came together with me.”

Viktor was turning an alarming shade of red. The angel behind him was laughing so much he had to lean onto the demon for support.

“Are you… doing this one purpose?” Viktor choked out.

“On purpose? I’m not sure what you mean.” Yuuri looked up at Viktor. “I just think that I’d have a lot of fun in the love dungeon with you.”

“Yuuri…” Viktor said in a strangled voice.

“Now, now,” the angel walked up to them, placing a hand on Viktor’s shoulder. Yuuri took in his appearance properly this time and noted that he had hazel eyes and a stubble. His wings looked like stereotypical angel wings but were a soft pink color, and a circle of small red hearts floated above his head. “I’m sure Viktor would love to go to a…” he paused for a moment. _“Love dungeon_ with you.”

“Chris,” Viktor hissed.

“Really?” Yuuri asked with a wide, eager smile.

“...yeah…” Viktor swallowed. “I’d be happy to go to a, a love dungeon with you.”  

Chris burst into laughter and Phichit sank onto the floor, curled into a ball.

“Asmodeus,” Phichit said. “The dungeon’s name is Asmodeus. Please use it, Yuuri.”

“Right, Asmodeus.” Yuuri nodded.

“Why is everyone acting so weird?” Yuri wrinkled his nose in disgust. “What’s wrong with going to Asmodeus?”

“Nothing!” Viktor’s voice was very, very high pitched. “Nothing is wrong with going to a love dungeon with Yuuri. Asmodeus with Yuuri. Yes, Asmodeus.” Viktor coughed. “Nothing wrong.”

Yuri narrowed his eyes. Viktor refused to make eye contact.

“But first,” Phichit said, recovering quickly from his secondhand embarrassment. “Yuuri needs new gear.”

It was at that very moment that Yuuri realised that, apart from the sword he received from the demon in the church and the bracelet he received from Viktor, he was mostly wearing beginner gear.

“Ah, right,” Yuuri said. “I haven’t really been able to get any new armor recently.”

“I think I have some stuff you can use,” Phichit said. “It’s not Incubus-geared armor, since I’m an Empyreal, but it should still be of some use to you until you get Incubus armor.” Phichit was about to pull out the armor when Viktor suddenly placed himself in between them.

“I actually have some Incubus gear,” he said, still not making eye contact. “If Yuuri wants, I can give it to him.”

“Why do you have Incubus gear?” Phichit asked. “Aren’t you an angel? A Naiad, no less. You’re not even of the same element as Yuuri.”

“It was a drop,” Viktor said.

_“What?!”_   Yuri began incredulously. The rest of his tirade was cut off by Chris placing a hand on his mouth.

“...right,” Phichit said and then he turned to Yuuri. “Want to take Viktor’s armor instead?”

“Sure,” Yuuri said. “It doesn’t really make a difference to me.”

“Great!” Viktor said cheerfully and in his hands was a folded piece of black fabric, mesh, and something that looked like diamonds. Yuuri hesitantly took it from Viktor and equipped it.

“Um,” Yuuri said. The outfit clinged to his body, almost like a second skin, with clear gemstones on his right shoulder and around his waist. It also had a half skirt and was, pretty much, forty percent mesh panel.

“Well, alright then,” Yuuri said.

“I’m not sure if you know this, Yuuri,” Phichit said. Viktor looked a little nervous. “But Incubus armor is usually forty to eighty percent mesh panel?” Viktor relaxed. “It gets more risque at higher levels.”

“Wow, okay,” Yuuri said, promptly deciding to wear low level gear forever.

“Ready to go?” Chris asked. Yuuri was about to nod when he realised that Chris was talking to Viktor instead.

“Um, yes.” Viktor lightly slapped his hands on either side of his cheeks. “Yes, I’m ready to take Yuuri in the love dungeon.” Chris smirked. “TO!” Viktor quickly corrected himself. _“TO_ ASMODEUS.”

If it were anyone else, Yuuri would have treated it as an innuendo. However, Viktor was an NPC. Was his AI glitching? Yuuri was worried.

Yuri had managed to free his mouth from Chris’ hand. “You’re fucking gross,” were his first words to Viktor.

“Are you alright?” Yuuri asked.

‘I’m perfectly fine!” Viktor said very quickly. “Let’s go to _Asmodeus,_ shall we?” Viktor stressed the name of the dungeon.

“Alright,” Phichit said. “Give me a moment to send an alliance request and then we’ll go.”

Yuuri wondered how virtual reality dungeons differed from dungeons in other games. Was there still going to be a boss at the end? Yuuri hoped it wasn’t another chicken; he didn’t think he would be able to stop laughing long enough to defeat the boss if it was.

“Alright, we’re in an alliance now!” Phichit said cheerfully. “To Asmodeus!”

“To Asmodeus,” Yuuri echoed with a smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> love dungeon was a mistake i made when worldbuilding but i ran with it. i ran so far. 
> 
> viktor suffers all the time. it's how i show my love.

**Author's Note:**

> this was born out of my Need for Actual Playboy Katsuki Yuuri and my nostalgia-glasses recollection of playing the mmorpg Angels Online
> 
> ALSO, VERY IMPORTANT: please suspend ur disbelief on the fact that yuuri can't differentiate npcs from pcs. i can certainly explain why he can't, but it isn't important to the story.


End file.
